1£ 



Camp Pottsgrove 

September 18th to 26th, 1777 



General Washington 
with his Continental 
Army at Fagleysville, 
New Hanover Town- 
ship, Montgomery 
County, Pennsylvania 



1903 

BENJAMIN BERTOLET 

Philadelphia 




|j;iss £S-23.^ 



i'iii:si:.\Ti:i) liv 



Camp Pottsgrove 

September ISth to 26th, 1777 



General Washington 
with his Continental 
Army at Fagleysville, 
New Hanover Town- 
ship, Montgomery 
County, Pennsylvania vj^^p's'S. 



C^^^^^^2^^^ 



1903 

BENJAMIN BERTOLET 

Philadelphia 



\^' 



p. 
Ai't.hor. 



CAMP POTTSGROVE AT FAGLEYSVILLE, PA. 

BACK OF THE CROOKED HILLS. 



A NEW REVELATION ON CAMP POTTSGROVE IN NEW HANOVER BV 
FINDING NOTES IN A JOURNAL AND ORDERLY BOOK. 



Two years ago the author issued a paper under the 
title "The Missing Link of Camp Pottsgrove, September 
19th to 26th, 1777," which was read before the Historical 
Society of Montgomery County, Pa., by my son Walter 
B. Bertolet, on February 22d, 1901, based principally on 
tradition, and what was handed down by the different 
families and statements by old respectable citizens who 
li^'ed and were raised in the neighborhood, and the Rev- 
olutionary relics found on the farms named. 

It affords the writer great pleasure to say that he is 
able to add another day to the length of the encampment 
at Camp Pottsgrove and write September i8th, instead of 
the 19th, 1777. 

"Washington's Army near the County of Berks," 
by M. S. Montgomery Esq., of Reading, Pa. He says 
the nearest point to Berks County that he reached was on 
September 21st, 1777, when he and his army were in 
Pottsgrove Township about four miles southeast of Potts- 
town. The British having moved after him up the west 
side of the Schuylkill river. He remained there until 
the 26th of September, 1777. Anyone who is familiar 
with this location would say that must be at the Crooked 
Hills, now Sanatoga. 

"In Muhlenberg's Journal" under the date of Sep- 
tember 19th, 1777, he says : "ThjLarmy marched south- 

(I) 



ward from Parker's Ford, on the east side of the Schuyl- 
kill river, by way of the Trappe, a village on the Reading 
road 25 miles from Philadelphia, as far as the Perkiomen 
creek, where it encamped. His Excellency, George 
Washington, was with the army in person, and marched 
past here (Trappe) to the Perkiomen creek. 

"The procession lasted the whole night, and we had 
numerous visits from officers wet breast high, who had to 
march in that condition the whole night. On the 2i.st, 
the enemy having moved rapidly up the road on the west 
side of the Schuylkill toward Reading, Washington 
marched his troops to within four miles of Pottsgrove, 
now Pottstown." 

On September i8th, 1777, Washington writes from 
Warwick Furnace to General Wayne : "The army here 
is so much fatigued that it is impossible I should move 
them this afternoon." 

On September 19th, Wa.shington writes from Parker's 
Ford to the President of Congress ; "I am now repassing 
the Schuylkill at Parker's Ford with the main body of 
the army, which will be over in an hour or two, though 
it is deep and rapid. As soon as the troops have crossed 
the river, I shall march them as expeditiously as possible 
towards Flatland's, Swede's, and other fords, where it 
is most probable the enemy will attempt to pass. 

In Marshall's "Life of Washington," we are told 
that on the 19th day of September, 1777, Washington and 
his army encamped on both sides of the Perkiomen creek, 
in Providence Township, and that the camp extended 
from the Trappe to lower end of Evansburg and Provi- 
dence Hill. 

I am more than pleased to be able to lay before the 
public the undeniable fact that Washington with his 
Continental Army laid in New Hanover Township, where 
Fagleysville is now located, on what was then the folio w- 

(2) 



ing farms : The Philip Brandt farm of 250 A., the John 
Fagley farm of 150 A., the minister's or church farm of 
100 A., where General Wayne had his headquarters, the 
Andrew Smith farm of 450 A. on which there was at that 
time a hotel, it is now Martin Wagner's farm. It was on 
these farms that the army relics were found by the differ- 
ent inhabitants, which were dropped there by those 
poorly clad soldiers, that had neither shoes nor clothing 
to wear. 

On September 23d, General Washington writes to 
the President of Congress; "One thousand of my men 
are . barefooted and have performed the long marches 
in that condition." 

Frederick Fagley who is 82 years old and lives at 
1619 North 19th street, Philadelphia, sa>shis grandfather, 
John Fagley. who was a member of Captain Philip Hahn's 
company from New Hanover Township, used to tell him 
and his brothers Elias, John, and Noah the stories of the 
war. He used to say that he was at the Battle of the 
Brandywine and at Paoli, and after the retreat the army 
had their camp on his place, now Fagleysville. He used 
to point out where they killed the cattle under a big 
sprawly low-limb oak tree where they hung the cattle 
after they were killed. This oak tree stood down towards 
Michael Wagner's farm, near the Speck creek where the 
off -falls were dumped. 

Mr. Fagley says when a boy he u.sed to pick up the 
army relics on his grandfather's farm. He says he had 
found enough leaden musket balls and grape and canister 
balls and pieces of shell to fill an old straw bread basket 
full ; they were mostly leaden musket balls. He pre- 
sented the writer with one of the leaden musket balls, 
which I have placed in the Historical Society of Mont- 
gomery County, in connection with two other leaden 
musket balls found by Mr. William Moor of Fagleysville, 
which the writer procured from him^^_^ 



The people of that neighborhood are still finding 
some of those Revolutionary relics. Jacob Wagner, son 
of Michael Wagner, showed Governor Pennypacker and 
myself two leaden musket balls just found last summer, 
1902. 

The late Captain Jesse Geist told me he had seen 
Frederick Fagle5^'s basket full of relics. Mr. Geist's fam- 
ily also have a number of leaden musket balls and grape 
and canister balls found on his farm. J. Warren Geist told 
Ex-Judge Pennypacker and myself last summer on our trip 
through New Hanover that he had found an old bayonet 
down in Noah Fagley's meadow. The Judge then asked 
him what he did with it? He gave answer, "I do not 
know what has become of it." The Judge then told him, 
"if I had found a relic like that I should have placed it in 
a glass case." 

Governor-elect Samuel W. Pennypacker writes me 
under date of December 5th, 1902, as follows: Captain 
William Beatty says, "We waded the Schuylkill on the 
1 8th of September, 1777." The Captain further says, 
"Oar army leaving the passes clear at the same time 
marched up the country to a place called New Hanover, 
where we lay some days. During our stay at this place 
a detachment was sent to Mud Island below Philadelphia. 
From this place we marched to Perkiomen Mills." The 
above is taken from the journal of Captain William Beatty 
of the Maryland line, 1776 to 1780. The captain's writ- 
ing is the most direct account in history j^et found of the 
camp at New Hanover, which evidently fixes the day 
when the first part of the Continental Army passed up the 
country through the Crooked Hills at the place familiarly 
known in the neighborhood by the name of Swamp Door 
(Schwammer Tohr) on the Falkner Swamp road, consist- 
ing of a division of the main army and the quartermaster's 
train and the militia commanded by General Armstrong, 
as the old people always said that the Militia arrived in 

(4) 



camp first and were given a leave of absence and privi- 
leged to go home in the adjoining counties for a week to 
assist in gathering the summer's crops. 

Thus we have the date fixed as September i8th, 
1777, when Captain William Beatty arrived in camp in 
New Hanover. On September 20th, General Wayne 
arrived in camp after his defeat at Paoli. His wounded 
men were brought to the Andrew Smith farm and hotel 
where the amputations were performed on the bar room 
table which is still in existence, and afterwards they were 
placed in the old log Reformed Church which was used 
as a hospital. 

As I have shown, the early writers all agree that the 
main army went west, September 21st, 1777, to a place 
four miles below Pottstown, which is one of the entrances 
to the Crooked Hills up the Sanatoga creek. This is the 
point where the Crooked Hills run up against the Schuyl- 
kill river. The strip of land at this place is very narrow 
for an army of 8,000 or 10,000 to spread itself on, but 
these writers all fail to give a definite location where the 
camp was established, as the location has always been in 
doubt. 

This location is four (4) miles west of Limerick 
Square on the Philadelphia and Reading turnpike, where- 
as New Hanover is four (4) miles northwest of Limerick 
Square on the Falkner Swamp road which branches off 
the Philadelphia and Reading pike at Limerick Square. 
The distance from Sanatoga to New Hanover (now Fag- 
leysville) is three (3) miles. 

It is not likely that a great General like General 
Washington would place his army in an exposed position 
in front of these hills when he could hide the army behind 
tliem on the farms belonging to men in his army such as 
Colonel Frederick Antes, Captain Michael Dotterer. and 
private John Fagley and Samuel Bertolet and their neigh- 
bors, who were all loyal patriotsr — One of the out-posts 

(5) 



of the camp was located outside the Sanatoga Gorge, 
where the Jackson Hill school house now stands. The 
writer is of the opinion that the exact location was not to 
be known as they retired to this place to recuperate. It 
was at this camp that the army was replenished with 
shoes and clothing from the storehouses at Reading and 
Lancaster. The distance from New Hanover to Reading 
is twenty-four (24) miles. 

At Skippackville on October ist, Washington writes 
these words. "Our army has now had the rest and 
refreshment it stood in need of." 

General Washington heads all his letters from the 
2ist of September, "Camp Pottsgrove." The last one 
was dated on September 26th, 1777. 

"We are now in motion and advancing to form a junction 
with General McDougal. I expect to be joined in a day or two by 
General Foreman with fourteen or fifteen hundred Jersey Militia." 

Washington. 

In this camp there was also located a bake hou.se and 
oven built in it, as Sub-lieutenant William Antes bought 
brick and had them hauled to camp and paid for them on 
September 23d, 1777, sixty dollars '$60.) It is my opinion 
that this bake house was located on the old Philip Brandt's 
farm southwest of Fagleysville. 

Washington writes again September 26th, 1777, after 
arriving at Pennypacker's Mill, to William Henry, Lan- 
caster, Pa., to authorize him to impress all blankets, shoes 
and stockings that can be spared by the inhabitants. This 
letter is headed Pennypacker's Mill. 

The Orderly Book Note that mentions the camp at 
New Hanover, reads as follows : An advertisement which 
was issued while the army lay near Skippackville, Pa., 
to which place the}^ moved on the 29th of September, 
1777. Extract from General Weedon's Orderl)^ Book on 
the 30th day of September, 1777, 

(6) 



"General Green lost at New Hanover camp, a brass 
pistol; both stock and barrel marked H... K... Any 
person who has found it and will return it to the General, 
shall receive twenty dollars." 

This Orderly book note establishes the fact that both 
General Weedon and General Green were in this camp 
with their commands. This note was sent to me by my 
esteemed friend, the late Henry S. Dotterer. 

The two notes cited, and the relics found at New 
Hanover, now Fagleysville, and the numerous statements 
made by old and respected citizens of the neighborhood 
should be sufficient proof that the camp was in New Han- 
over, now Fagleysville, Pa. 

Camp Pottsgrove, Thursday, September 25th, 1777. 

"l^o-day it rains ; to-morrow morning at 9 o'clock we march 
and join General McDougall. Pretty soon I imagine we shall pro- 
ceed to attack the enemy if their post is practicable." 

To John Pickering. Col. Pickering. 

General McDougall with his command was in charge 
of the Skippack road at or near Pennypacker's Mill. Col- 
onel Pickering's letter also shows that he had a good 
conception of the camp and its movements, and had 
charge of his command in the camp. 

Camp Pottsgrove, Friday, September 26th, 1777. 
"We shall move towards Philadelphia to-day, as the weather 
is clear and our reinforcements are at some distance below, ready 
to fall in with us." 

To Henry Laurens. John Laurens. 

By the tone of this letter the army officers were 
already advised of the forward march to Philadelphia. 

"In the Perkiomen Region, Past and Present," by 
the late Henry S. Dotterer, Vol. 3, No. 12, page 178, he 
says: "Washington at the home of Colonel Frederick 
Antes." When did this happen? On the night of the 
20th of September, 1777, the army decamped and retraced 
its steps up to the Trappe. On the 21st of September he 
marched his troops to within fouiuniles of Pottsgrove, 

(7) 



now Pottstown, and established Camp Pottsgrove. How 
long he remained here is not definitel}' known. 

We are of the opinion that he was here from the night 
of the 2istto the morning of the 26th of September, 1777. 
He further saj^s, in order to satisfy the inexorable demands 
of the historians, a half dozen words in a diary a sentence 
in a letter, a note from an orderly book or something 
similar is necessary. I am sure we are now able to satisfy 
those wants of the historians, and that the}^ will be con- 
vinced by the notes from Captain William Beatty's Jour- 
nal and from General Weedon's Orderly Book, and the 
army relics that have been found, that Camp Pottsgrove 
was located at New Hanover, and that General Washing- 
ton had his headquarters with Col. Frederick Antes, from 
the 2i.st to the 26th of September, 1777. 

It is little known what this country owes to these 
patriotic men of the upper end of Montgomery County, 
at that time a portion of Philadelphia County. Such men 
as Colonel Thomas Potts, of Pottstown or Pottsgrove, as 
it was then called ; General Daniel Heister of Upper Sal- 
ford Township, (Sunneytown, Pa.) later of Berks County ; 
Michael Hillengass, of Upper Hanover Township, who 
came to the assistance of the Colonial Government with 
$100,000.00 in cash, after Philadelphia fell into the hands 
of the British making the Colonial Treasury helpless. 

Colonel Frederick Antes, of Frederick Township, 
stood almost at the head in prominence. After the death 
of his father, Henry Antes, on the 20th of July, 1755, his 
son Frederick was appointed to succeed him by the King 
of England, as Justice of the Peace of Frederick Town- 
ship, thus making it his business to look after the King's 
interests in that section of the province. But when the 
war broke out he took sides with the American cause ; he 
turned a rebel and left the Crown Government to fight 
their own battles. He was appointed one of the Delegates 

(8) 



to the Provincial Convention, which was held January 
23d to 2$th. 1775, at Carpenter's Hall, in Philadelphia. 
He again attended another convention along with others 
from the upper end on June i8th, 1776. The following 
are among the names subscribed thereto : Frederick 
Antes, Col. John Bull, and Capt. Matthew Brooke. 

After these incidents he drew his sword in the Amer- 
ican cause, and led the 6th Battalion of the Philadelphia 
County Militia, for which the Crown Government set a 
reward of ^100 Sterling on his head, dead or alive. He 
lived on what is now known as the Isaac Bott's farm, in 
Frederick Township, Pa., where his father, Henry Antes, 
is buried. It will do anyone good to make a visit to his 
grave and read the inscription on his tombstone. About 
the year 1780, Colonel Frederick Antes was compelled to 
sell his mill and farm to his neighbor, Samuel Bertolet, 
in double haste on account of the British spies and detec- 
tives that were hunting him. During these trying times 
he was compelled to leave the neighborhood and go west 
into the wilds and wilderness of the Susquehanna river 
valley, where he afterward settled. Lately the writer 
has located one of his shoe buckles and a knee breeches 
buckle, and several army-coat buttons. 

During the stay of the Continental Army at New Han- 
over, now Fagley.sville, Pa.. General Washington had his 
headquarters with Colonel Frederick Antes, and his body- 
guard and the high officers had their headquarters and 
office with his neighbor, Samuel Bertolet, where the for- 
ward move was planned to attack the enemy near Phila- 
adelphia. 



The late Henry S. Dotterer says in his "Perkiomen 
Region," that Frederick Antes was employed at the Warwick Fur- 
nace to superintend the casting of cannon during the two years, 
1775 and 1776. ^ 

19) 




HOMESTEAD OF SAMUEI. BERTOLET 

The Revoldtionarv Soldier 

Occupied by General Washington and his staff as their headquarters and 

ofBce during the encampment oi Camp Pottsgrove, 

September iSth to 26th, 1777. 

During October, 1902, I had my cousin to call on me 
from Wyoming County, Pa. His name is Jacob Bertolet 
and he is eighty (80) years old. He is the son of Samuel 
Bertolet, who lived at the French Creek Mills, and 
who was the second son of Samuel Bertolet, the Revolu- 
tionary Soldier. Samuel, the father of Jacob, used to tell 
his family that his father, Samuel, (Jacob's grandfather) 
hauled stores and supplies to Valley Forge Camp during 
the cold winter in response to a personal appeal made by 
General Washington while stopping a few daj'S with Col- 
onel Frederick Antes on his second visit to the valley 
during the winter of 1777 and 1778. 



(.0> 



THE SIXTH BATTALION 

OF THE 

PHILADELPHIA COUNTY MILITIA 



In the Spring of 1777, when General Washington 
was compelled to change his field of operations from. New 
Jersey into Pennsylvania, he opened his Summer cam- 
paign about April ist, 1777. The Assembly was passing 
laws to strengthen the Continental Army with new recruits 
by forming the Militia into Battalions. 

The Militia of Philadelphia County was organized 
into seven battalions, each battalion consisting of eight 
companies. The Colonels commanding the different bat- 
talions were : The first commanded by Daniel Hiester ; 
the second by John Moor ; the third by Benjamin 
McVeagh ; the fourth by William Dean ; the fifth by 
Robert Curry ; the sixth by Frederick Antes ; and the 
seventh by Isaac Warner. 

On May 6th, 1777, Frederick Antes, of Frederick 
Township, Montgomery County, (then Philadelphia 
County, Pa) was appointed Colonel of the Sixth Battalion 
of the Philadelphia County Militia. It was composed of 
eight (8) companies from the following townships ; Doug- 
lass, Frederick, Limerick, New Hanover, Upper Hanover, 
Marlborough, Perkiomen, and Salford. 

Frederick Weiss was appointed Lieutenant Colonel. 

Jacob Bishop was appointed Major. 

William Antes, Esq. was appointed sub-lieutenant 
and paymaster. _ . ^ 

(II) 



The captains in command of the eight companies of 
the Sixth Battalion were : First company by John Brooke; 
the second company by Benjamin Brooke; third company 
by Peter Lower; fourth company by Philip Hahn; fifth 
company by Peter Richards; sixth company by Michael 
Dotterer; seventh company by Jacob Reed; and the eighth 
company by Childs. 

The militia were divided into eight classes and they 
consisted of all the men liable to military duty. Captain 
Michael Dotterer, of Frederick Township, received his 
commission as captain on May 12th, 1777, and served at 
the head of the Frederick Township Militia. 

In those days the colonel of a regiment had full con- 
trol and supervision of a militia regiment. The Colonial 
States were unable to supply the wants of the militia, 
therefore he appointed Samuel Bertolet to run the quarter- 
master's team. His team consisted of four (4) horses and 
a conestoga wagon with its feed trough swinging on the 
back of the wagon. The feed trough was so constructed 
that when in use it fitted on the wagon tongue. I well 
remember the trough, as my father, Daniel Bertolet, 
became the owner of it ; my father also became the owner 
of his army overcoat, which was in our family up to 
i860. It was always said that two of the horses of 
Samuel Bertolet' s army team belonged to Colonel Fred- 
erick Antes. 

Colonel Frederick Antes and Samuel Bertolet lived 
as adjoining neighbors, the buildings being only 300 
yards apart, and Captain Michael Dotterer lived one-half 
mile northeast of them 

Colonel Frederick Antes' regiment after it was fully 
formed and organized, proceeded to Newtown, Bucks Coun- 
ty, Pa., near Trenton on the western banks of the Dela- 
ware river. The regiment followed the army from this 
point to Philadelphia, where Washington established his 

tl2) 



camp along Nicetown Lane at the Falls of Schuylkill, 
near ^what is known as dobson's Hill and where the 
SiMUiwiikMiib' Reservoir is located. 

From this point Washington's Army travelled to the 
Brandywine, where they fought the Battle of the Brandy- 
wine on the nth of September, 1777. During the battle 
the militia had charge of the stores on the Chester Road, 
so said John Fagley, of New Hanover. That night the 
army retreated to Chester and the next day back to the 
old camp at the Falls of Schuylkill. 




COI.. FREDERICK ANTES' HOMESTEAD. 
Where Gen. George Washington had his headquarters, Sept. 21 to 26, 1777. 



Two days later the army moved to Buck Tavern and 
White Horse Tavern, where some of the militia had a 
clash with the Engli.sh, September i6th, 1777. About 
this time the fall rainy season (fall equinox) set in and 
the army travelled from here to Chester Springs and War- 
wick Furnace to bury sixty (60) cannon that had been 

cast at the furnace that year. ^ 

(13 > 



While General Washington was making these manou- 
vers and getting ready to recross the Schuylkill at Parker's 
Ford, General Wayne was detailed with a small detach- 
ment of regulars and a battalion of militia to guard the 
crossing of the main army over the Schuylkill, and on 
the 19th of September, after the main army had crossed 
the Schuylkill, General Wayne took upon himself to make 
a raid on the English Army. He started south and 
reached Paoli in the evening of the same day. That night 
General Grey made a dash upon his camp and early in 
the morning of the 20th of September, General Wayne 
was badly defeated and a number of his men massacred. 

Samuel Bertolet's team was one of the teams that 
were in this engagement, and he with his team helped to 
haul the wounded soldiers to the Andrew Smith Hotel at 
New Hanover, where the amputating was performed 
on the bar-room table. Afterwards the old log Swamp 
Reformed Church was used as the hospital for the wound- 
ed. General Wayne's command also arrived in camp on 
the 20th of September, at New Hanover. 

The following are the names of the men enrolled in 
Captain Michael Dotterer's Company of Militia from Fred- 
erick Township as found in the Pennsylvania Archives : 
Peter Acker, Francis Bart, Jacob Beltz, Samuel Bartley 
(Bertolet), Conrad Bickhard, Henry Boyer, Jacob Boyer, 
Philip Boyer, Valentine Boyer, William Boyer, Jacob 
Christman, Jacob Detweiler, Conrad Diffenbacher, Henry 
Hollobush, Yost Hollobush, Daniel Krause, Henry 
Krause, Michael Krau.se, Michael Kuntz, Francis Leidig, 
Leonard Leidig, John Lay, George Michael, Zacharias 
Nyce, Gottfried Say lor, Henry Sassaman, Charles Solner, 
Jacob Stetler, Henry Stetler, Christian Stetler, George 
Smith, George Swanck, Jacob Swanck, Jacob Reimer, 
Ludwig Reimer (Ludwick), John Reimer, Jacob Under- 
cufHer, Henry Werner, Jeremiah Weiser, Jacob Zieber, 
and John Zieber. 

(■4) 



INCIDENTS OF NEW HANOVER TOWNSHIP 

IN THE 

REVOLUTIONARY WAR 



This sketch relates to the names of the men enrolled 
in the New Hanover Company of the Sixth Battalion of 
the Philadelphia County Militia, and the statements of 
different persons who were born and raised in New Han- 
over as follows : 

The statements of John Fagley, the Revolutionary 

soldier, are very interesting as handed down directly 

through his grandsons, three of whom are still living 

although very aged. Frederick Fagley and Elias Fagley 

have both passed the four score mark. These statements 

were told them by their grandfather while they were boys 

of proper age and good understanding, as Frederick says 

he was 14 years old when his grandfather died at the age 

of eighty-four (84) years, while Elias sa5's he was 12 years 

old when his grandfather died. John Fagley and Noah 

Fagley, the other two grandsons follow their brothers 

closely in age, but John Fagley died a year ago. In my 

former statement I gave several facts of the statement of 

Frederick Fagley. He also says that his grandfather 

used to say that General Washington taught his army to 

read and to commit and to pray the 91st Psalm. He also 

remembers his grandfather when he used to mount his 

saddle horse and rode from his home at Fagleysville to 

New Hanover Square with his old army overcoat on, to 

cast his vote on election day. This overcoat was similar 

to the present army overcoat except it was made with 

three capes. 

(15) 



The following is a statement of Elias Fagley, of 
Philadelphia, Pa. : I well remember my grandfather and 
I remember him saying that he had been engaged at the 
Battle of the Brandywine and also at Paoli, and that Wash- 
ington's Army was encamped on the different farms 
around Fagley sville. 

Washington used to go over on the Prospect Hill 
from where he had a full and commanding view of the 
Sanatoga Valley to Pottsgrove ; and on the Fagley's Hill 
from where he had a full view of the Great Road to the 
Trappe and Valley Forge. It is at the foot of this hill 
that the gorge runs, through which was the door to the 
Falkner Swamp Valley and which is commonly known 
as the Schwanuner Tohr or (Sw^amp Door). 

I also remember the big oak tree which my grand- 
father used to point out as being the place the army 
slaughtered their cattle and hung them on the low spread- 
ing limbs. We also had grandfather's wooden canteen 
which was made of sassafras w^ood ; it was so constructed 
that the height was three times the length. We also had 
grandfather's powder-horn in our famil}^ 

Statement of the late John S. Fagley, who lived on 
Chalkley Hall Lane, 25th Ward, Philadelphia. "I was 
about (8) years old when grandfather died, and I remem- 
ber the sprawley oak tree beneath which the army slaugh- 
tered their cattle. I also remember the Revolutionary 
War relics which my brother Frederick found on our 
grandfather's farm, such as leaden bullets, broken bayo- 
nets and iron canister balls ; they laid in our garret for a 
long time. I helped to melt some of the leaden bullets to 
get the lead, which we wanted for other purposes. I well 
remember the old army overcoat and his powder-horn and 
wooden canteen that were stored away in the garret. 

Grandfather used to relate a story that went the 
rounds in Fagley sville when I was a boy, to the effect 

(16) 



that when the artillery of Washington's Army came into 
camp along the road by the Philip Brandt Farm, one of 
the Brandt sons was plowing in the field and when he 
caught sight of the army he left his plough and team of 
horses stand in the field and joined the army." 

Statement of Noah Fagley, of Fagleysville, Pa. "I 
was born on my grandfather's farm and I now own the 
Tannery farm and the farm on the Swamp Creek Hill 




HEADQUARTERS OF GEN. ANTHONY WAYNE 
while in command of the outpost in the Sanatoga Valley. Later the birth- 
place of the late Gen. John F. Hartranft, Governor oJ 
Pennsylvania, 1872 to 1878. 



road. I have spent my lifetime on these three farms, and 
have found a number of war relics on them, such as lead- 
en bullets, grape shot and pieces of broken shells. The 
old people used to say that the stone house on the Church 
farm was occupied by the Generals of Washington's 
Army, being the headquarters of ^e&. Wayne." 

U7) 



The following are the names of the men that served 
under Captain Philip Hahn in the Militia Company from 
New Hanover Township, which was a part of the Sixth 
Battalion of the Philadelphia County Militia : 

John Bitting, Peter Bitting, Yost Bitting, Philip 
Brandt, George Buchert, Peter Dehaven, Jacob Denny, 
John Detier, Michael Egolf ; George Emhart, Ensign ; 
John Fagley, I^ewis Frankenberger, John Freed, Jacob 
Freese, Adam Gerver, John Grove, Bernard Freyer, John 
Freyer, Michael Hilber ; Jacob Hill, Corporal ; Michael 
Hoover ; Jacob Kern, Corporal ; Sebastian Koch, Adam 
Krebs, Philip Krebs, Michael Krebs, Davis Lessig, Peter 
Loch, Benjamin Markley, Joseph Maybury, Frederick 
Miller, Martin Miller, Benedict Mintz, Alexander Mc- 
Michael, Adam Neidig, Jacob Neighman, George Pals- 
grove, Henry Palsgrove, Daniel Pile, Sebastian Reifsni- 
der. Daniel Rhoads, John Richards, John Sackman, 
Christian Sackriter; George Sheffy, Corporal Jacob Sheffy, 
John Sheffy, John Shuler, Christian Slonaker, George 
Adam Slonaker, Henry Slonaker, John Smith, Henry 
Snider, Jr., Jacob Snider, John Snider, Eudwig Stark, 
Jacob Strouse, Adam Warthman, John Walter, John 
Willower, Philip Yawn, Adam Yerger, Andrew Yerger, 
Martin Yerger, Philip Young, and Chistian Zoller. 

The writer finds that a number of the men whose 
names are mentioned in these companies were promoted 
and a few occupied very prominent positions during the 
Revolutionary War. 

In the year 1782, Colonel Daniel Hiester was pro- 
moted to the grade of Brigadier General by the Executive 
Council on May 23d. Captian Jacob Reed was appointed 
Major in the same year and served during the war. He 
was born in Franconia Town.ship, one mile west of Hat- 
field, Pa , and died in New Britian Township, Bucks Co., 
Pa., and is buried at Eeidy Church. A granite monu- 

(18) 



nient was erected in 1902 to honor his name and mark 
his grave. 

I find Captain Benjamin Markley in command of a 
company from New Hanover Township in the year 1781. 
I also find among the old records of 1781, a receipt of his 
which reads as follows : 

Received, January 31st, 1781. of Peter Richards, one 
of the Sub-lieutenants of the County of Philadelphia, the 
sum of six hundred dollars in full, for the dium and fife 
of my company for the summer last past, and one hundred 
dollars for two days service in notifying the 5th, 6th, 7th, 
and 8th classes of militia in my company. 

Pr. me, Benjamin Markley, Capt. 




(19) 



cm^^^^^-^ 



KDDEINDA 



The object of publishing this pamphlet is for two 
reasons. 

First. — To give the exact location of Camp Potts- 
grove to the present and the future generations, as its 
location has for years been a bone of contention among 
the historians. 

Second. — To place the spelling of Samuel Bertolet's 
name correct!}' in history and the services he rendered to 
his country during the Revolutionary War. You will 
perceive under the enrolment of Captain Michael Dot- 
terer's Company from Frederick Township, in the Penn- 
sylvania Archives, his name is there enroled as Samuel 
Bartley. To this day the Bertolets are known by that 
name in Berks and Montgomery Counties, which comes 
under the French Huguenot pronunciation, thus : Bar-to- 
la ; the e takes the sound of a and the t being silent. 



c^^^^*^^,^^^ 




011 699 804 A 



